Germany’s biogas industry says long-term policy strategy needed to keep plants running

Biogas production in Germany has a lot of untapped potential for contributing to the country’s climate targets and needs a proper long-term strategy to make sure it is put to the best possible use, lobby group Fachverband Biogas says in a press release. “Biogas can provide more than baseload power – and will have to deliver it in the future, too,” said association head Horst Seide. Biogas plants need to become more flexible, provide heat and environmentally-friendly fuels in the next years to fully use their potential, Seide said. In 2021, the first 1,000 plants will drop out of the guaranteed 20-year support period. But, according to the association, most owners will continue to operate their installations if policy conditions allow profitable investments in the plants’ modernisation. “Under the current framework and blurry policymaking Germany’s biogas plant capacity cannot be sustained,” Seid argued. 

Read the press release in German here. 

Read a CLEW dossier on bioenergy and the energy transition here and another dossier on the emissions from food and farming in the country here.